I'll let you into a little secret... There's no cheap way to get married. Even eloping can be expensive, less expensive than feeding the 5000 at a Georgian manor, but nevertheless it's expensive either way.
Here are my tips on how to save money when thinking about booking suppliers for your wedding
Flowers
Our wedding flowers cost just under a grand, I love flowers and so this for me was an area in the budget where I didn't mind spending. I can't say my mind was always that way, as flowers die near or less a few days after you've had them at your wedding, and unless you are going to give a lot away as gifts, the majority will go out with the rubbish! So I propose you do your own flowers, there are many online companies what we know as letter box flowers, for around £20 a bouquet which can be used both as bridesmaids flowers and table flowers, it just means you'll have to arrange them yourself - a job for the Mother of the Groom or a Nan? An alternative would be to raid your local supermarket the day before - two brides I have been bridesmaid for, did just that, they ended up only spending £100 on flowers and they still looked totally beautiful. That may not be an option if there's something in particular you'd like at your wedding, as flowers are seasonal and you can't guarantee the stock will be there (but I'm sure you could visit a few different stores) I saved in this area by having my bridesmaid with only one rose for their flowers, it looked so classy and a few of them lost them, so I was glad I only spent £6 on a rose rather than £30 on a bouquet! Lastly, if you do go to a florist, tell a white lie and say you're having a party! The florist I go into every week and buy a gorgeous bunch from, usually charge me £15, I inquired with them how much a bouquet of gyp would cost and they said £40, wtf?! It costs £2 a bunch from Sainsburys!
Entertainment
You may want a DJ for your entertainment, but unless you call a few companies I'm not sure how much this will cost you or what the cheapest is. We had a package deal with ours which included lighting, microphone, large letters and a photobooth. The general feel online is that if you go for a package deal it works out a lot cheaper than booking through separate companies. For a cheaper alternative, go into your local city/town and find some raw talent. In Oxford there are loads of saxophone players, guitarists, singers etc on the streets. Talk to them! They are usually so excited about being booked and are much cheaper. It also gives your guests something nice and different to listen to and enjoy! We love live music, luckily Todd's Uncle is in a band, so we were able to book those! But again, for someone I was bridesmaid for, I got a card for her, from a guy in town and he played at the welcome drinks/canapes, he had many compliments and again was SO cheap!
Photography & Videography
If you are going to spend money on anything for a wedding, let it be a photographer and videographer. From experience I can tell you, it'll go by in a flash and the majority of it you won't remember. I felt like it didn't even happen it happened so quick. You need the perfect person to capture your day so you can re live it in years to come. A cheaper way to find a photographer would be to contact colleges and university's in the area, to find students who have just graduated or who are currently doing a course in photography, that way you can really bargain on price and hopefully they'll snatch up your offer as they'll want to build a good portfolio. This is however, risky! You would really need to view their work or put your trust in them. My brother did this for his wedding and he found such a talented lady - his photos came out amazingly!
Makeup
Again, you want to look good! Most makeup artists in the Oxfordshire area will charge £100 for bridal makeup, not to mention the trial/travelling costs etc. Providing you have time, go to Debenhams or John Lewis and have your makeup done. With places like MAC, you have a makeover for £50 and i'm sure if you then spend £50 on products you end up getting the makeover for free! So half the price of what it could cost. I guess it depends on how you like to look and if you have enough time on the day. Alternatively ask for spa vouchers for your birthday/Christmas gifts, a lot of salons will have makeup artists, so you could always book one with your vouchers. Better yet, DIY! Buy the makeup and watch some tutorials on YouTube. My favourites are Carli Bybel & Desi Perkins!
Wedding attire
eBay or rentals - is the only way you can get this one cheap I'm afraid! But don't you want to keep the outfit you married the love of ya life in!? There's a big warehouse in Swindon called Wed2Be ( I hope that's what it's called) With thousands of dresses in, cheaper than bridal shops for sure. Go and spend the day there! Originally, I wanted a dress with sleeves, but I luckily soon realised, I would be sweating my tits off in sleeves, so I went for a boob tube dress which was "cheaper" than your average dress and had a seamstress add little bardot sleeves. There's nothing wrong with ordering from eBay, after all unless you do your cleaning in your wedding dress around the house, you wear it once so why on earth spend so much money on it? Keep in mind when wedding dress shopping, alterations are around £150/£200 so add this on to the price of the dress and double check you actually want it. Also message bridal shops to find out when their end of season sale dates are, you'll be surprised at the bargains you can find on these days!
Decoration
Spend time not money! Spend time visiting car boot sales and charity shops to find lovely little items for your decoration, hiring sometimes works out so much more expensive as you have to pay for the transportation and delivery costs 9 times out of 10. Can you make it yourself? DIY always wins, it was a lovely feeling standing back at my own wedding realising I had made most of what was in front of me, with help of course - I have no patience. There are such things as, wedding car boot sales! Find your nearest one and find them bargains. It really does depend on the style you want for your day I guess, so this piece of advice may not help you. Favours/sweets etc, ask around family and friends for a Costco card and buy in bulk.
Cake
The average cost of a wedding cake is £300. Does your Nan bake? Ha, I joke, but maybe asking for a favour off a family member of friend who is good at baking could save you hundreds? A good tip for saving costs here is, check our places like M&S they sell iced cakes, you just assemble it yourself and I think it works out okay price wise! You could also have a fake cake, sounds weird right? I know of couples who have had a fake cake to be presented to the guests and out the back have had a basic cake cut up for serving.
That's about all my brain can master up for today, I hope you can take some inspo from the above. If you want advice on anything in particular, feel free to drop me a message on my Instagram!
Love, Rey x
